Bermejo River

The Bermejo River is a river in South America that travels a total of 1450 km from Bolivia to the Paraguay River in Argentina. The river is generally called Bermejo in spite of its different names along its way, but it also has its own Native American names; in Wichí it is called Teuco, and in Guaraní it is called Ypitá.

The river is born in a mountain range known as Sierra de Santa Victoria around coordinates coord|22|00|14|S|64|57|30|W| near Tarija, a few kilometres southeast of Chaguaya in Bolivia, and not far from La Quiaca, Jujuy Province, Argentina. In general, it maintains a southeastern direction. At its highest part, its main tributaries are the Lipeo River, and further downstream the Grande de Tarija, the Uriya River, and the San Francisco River.

The Bermejo is not navigable. In the late 19th century, numerous attempts were made to open up the commercial navigation of the river, but all of them failed, largely due to the river's shallow waters, which carry enormous amounts of sediment. Near the Tropic of Capricorn, the river splits in two; the smaller Bermejito, and the northern arm that known as "Teuco River". When leaving the province of Salta, the Teuco (or "Bermejo Nuevo") draws the limit between the provinces of Chaco and Formosa.

The southern branch (or "Bermejito") of curvy and sometimes dry path, crosses Chaco near the El Impenetrable jungle. On the shores of this river can still be seen the ruins of the former towns of Concepcion del Bermejo, San Bernardo de Vértiz, and La Cangayé.

The Teuco follows its course to finality and into the Paraguay River, in front of the city of Pilar, in Paraguay.

The river carries red-coloured sediments and produces irregular accumulations that can even alter the course of the river, leaving the older paths as wet depressions.

Note: the upper part of the Desaguadero River is sometimes also called the Bermejo.